Psychology

Science

The power of self-deception: Why and how our brains deceive us

"In any given moment the human eye takes in about a billion bits of information. The brain discards the vast majority of that information, and processes about 40 bits of information."

Health

Seattle Now: Why vaccine incentives work

Starting tomorrow, you could win a cool $250,000 from the state... assuming you're vaccinated, of course. Today we ask: Why do these vaccine lottery programs work?

Technology

Jill Lepore on the ethically challenged birth of the computer age

'These men are going out to build a machine to understand how humans think and feel and would behave, and they don’t understand their wives and they don’t understand their children.'

Health

Election anxiety stressing you out? We asked a psychiatrist about how to cope

‘I think the first step is to take stock individually: What regulates me?’

Science

You 2.0: The Mind's Eye

Some challenges feel insurmountable. But psychologist Emily Balcetis says the solutions are often right in front of our eyes. This week, as part of our annual series on personal growth and reinvention, Emily explains how we can harness our sight to affect our behavior.

You 2.0: Our Pursuit of Happiness

Sometimes, life can feel like being stuck on a treadmill. No matter how hard you try to get happier, you end up back where you started. What's going on here? We kick off our annual You 2.0 summer series with happiness researcher Elizabeth Dunn, who explains how to fight the treadmill feeling.

Science

The Founding Contradiction: Thomas Jefferson's Stance On Slavery

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal." These words, penned by Thomas Jefferson more than 240 years ago, continue to inspire many Americans. And yet they were written by a man who owned hundreds of slaves, and fathered six children by an enslaved woman. As we mark Independence Day this week, we return to a 2018 episode with Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Annette Gordon-Reed. We explore the contradictions in Jefferson's life — and how those contradictions might resonate in our own lives.